Life and the Liberty Fellowship

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 8:15 a.m. (1)

Sometimes help can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Erin Jones left her small Midwestern town to study education and then earn a master’s degree in theater from the fundamentalist Christian Bob Jones University, where she met and married the Jones family heir, Stephen Jones.

Betsy Fleming left a liberal-leaning family in Spartanburg to attend Harvard University, then studied at the London College of Arts and ultimately earned a doctorate from Yale University.  Continue reading...

 

The Heritage Green space

County looks for ways to improve public awareness of arts area.

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 3:39 p.m. (1)

Heritage Green is having an identity crisis.

The home of four museums, a community theater and the county’s main library is just three blocks from Main Street, yet is not widely thought of as a part of Greenville’s burgeoning downtown.

Some say that’s because of Academy Street, one of Greenville’s main central city thoroughfares that dissects Heritage Green from the rest of downtown and a more pedestrian-friendly Main Street.  Continue reading...

 

A baseball story

Bob Jones University premiers movie

APRIL 4, 2011 10:44 a.m. (0)

Screenwriter David Burke says there are three reasons why “Milltown Pride” will resonate with audiences in Greenville and the Upstate.

“Milltown Pride,” the newest production by Bob Jones University’s Unusual Films, tells the story of a young man who dreams of playing professional baseball.

But to do so, he has to defy his father and leave his privileged life for the local textile mill.  Continue reading...

 

BJU board member resigns

Alumni-circulated petition took issue with how Phelps handled abuse allegations

DECEMBER 1, 2011 7:59 p.m. (9)

The Rev. Chuck Phelps has resigned from the Bob Jones University cooperating board after a group of alumni circulated a petition asking the university to remove  Phelps because of the way the minister handled allegations that a church member raped a 15-year-old girl in his congregation.

Bob Jones III, BJU chancellor and grandson of the founder, read Phelps' letter of resignation this morning at a regularly scheduled board meeting. A statement on the university's website said Phelps did not want to "distract distract BJU from its mission."

“We are grateful to Dr. Phelps for his many years of loyal service to his alma mater as a member of the Board of Trustees,” the statement quoted  Jones as saying.  Continue reading...

 

BJU seeks accreditation

Accreditation will make it easier for students to get financial aid

DECEMBER 8, 2011 10:47 a.m. (0)

Bob Jones University officials have decided to undertake the laborious process of seeking accreditation from the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, which will make it easier for students to get federal financial aid and for graduates to get into graduate school.

Over the years the fundamentalist Christian university has rejected the idea of seeking accreditation because officials thought such oversight would require changes to the university that would compromise core beliefs.

The instructions for the application are 32 pages long and ask for information the university has held closely through the years such as detailed financial statements, qualifications of faculty and administrators and the responsibilities of board members. The application is as thorough as how big the stacks area is for books in the library and what is the university’s long-term debt.  Continue reading...

 

BJU's Bob Taylor to retire

Dean of College of Arts and Sciences  is stepping down after 50 years of continuous service at BJU

JANUARY 26, 2012 5:06 p.m. (0)

It was an old mathematics professor at Bob Jones University who, however unwittingly, set the course for Bob Taylor’s life in the late 1950s by urging him to go on for graduate level degrees in math and return to BJU to teach.

“Her name was Daniela Smith,” Taylor said. “She was from Texas.”

Taylor is stepping down as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in May after 50 years of continuous service at BJU. To those who know him best 50 years seems like about the right number.  Continue reading...